It’s Greek to them

like that of former Fidelity Magellan fund manager Peter Lynch: own what you know. Each member is therefore expected to recommend companies in his own industry or profession. Brooks notes the club doesn’t own any oil stocks because none of the members works in the industry. Instead, Seven Jewels invests in technology, health care, manufacturing, financial services and retailing.

Brooks, who has an M.B.A., helped to develop six financial ratios-winnowed down from 18 originally-the club uses to analyze companies, helping the club structure a template with which to standardize its stock-picking research efforts.

“Each member now invests $90 per month,” says Walker, “up from $30 when we first formed the club.” Altogether, the Seven Jewels portfolio is valued at about $36,000. Top holdings include Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), MindSpring Enterprises (Nasdaq: MSPG) and Verisign (Nasdaq: VRSN).